Gasoline

Gasoline Prices Rise to $2.74 Per Gallon

Gasoline prices continued their upward climb, rising 5.3 cents to $2.744 for a gallon of unleaded as a national average, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

The average national price for the week ending May 18 is now 92.1 cents lower than it was a year ago. Prices increased incrementally across the nine regions tracked by the agency with the sharpest increase coming in the Midwest at 8.9 cents to $2.597. The highest price remains on the West Coast at $3.513.

Among the states, California remains the costliest state for gasoline purchases with an average price of $3.803 per gallon. Six other states have an average price above $3, including Nevada, Hawaii, Alaska, Oregon, and Washington. Ten states have gasoline that costs less than $2.50 per gallon with South Carolina's $2.413 now the cheapest state average.

Meanwhile, the average price of diesel rose 2.6 cents to $2.904 per gallon. Diesel now costs $1.03 less than a year ago.

The average fuel economy of new vehicles sold in the U.S. in December fell to 25 mpg — down 0.2 mpg from a revised November value, according to Brandon Schoettle and Michael Sivak, researchers from the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI).

The national average price of unleaded gasoline jumped 5 cents to $2.49 per gallon in the first week of 2018 and has reached a level not seen since 2014 during the week that starts the new year, according to AAA.

China is setting a deadline for automakers to end the sale of fossil-fuel powered vehicles as the country looks to reduce oil consumption and pollution and push for the development of electric vehicles. Regulators are working on a timetable for the ban.

The average national price of gasoline remained at $2.29 per gallon for the week ending March 27 amid discussion by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to extend a production cut by another six months.